Has the Watchtower ever claimed to be inspired?

by jwfacts 28 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  jwfacts

  Does anyone know if the Watchtower has ever claimed to be inspired?

  I know that they claim to be directed by Holy Spirit, which means the same as being inspired, but have they ever used the word inspired?
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  garybuss

  They claim: to be God's prophet, divinely directed, to speak for God, that God put His words on their lips, but they deny being inspired.
  It's a convenient way to deny responsibility for that which has been proven by time and history to be error.
  
  
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  gumby

  According to Watchtower theology, Jesus himself appointed them as his' Faithful and Wise Servant' to dispense' food 'at the proper time. Why would Jesus appoint them if he didn't plan on inspiring them and supplying the food they were to dispense?

  Gumby
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  jgnat

  They do claim to be God's channel, and to receive direct instructions from Him. If that isn't inspired, I don't know what is.

  http://www.reexamine.org/quotes/channel.htm

  INSPIRE: 1 a : to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration www.m-w.com

  INSPIRATION: 1 a : a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation

  An interesting sideline, the concept of prima scriptura. Jehovah's Witnesses are given as an example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prima_scriptura
• 

  ringo5

  WT 6/15/57 p370:
  “Jehovah has established a very definite channel of communication through which he deals with his people ... It is vital that we appreciate this fact and respond to the directions of the ‘slave’ as we would to the voice of God ...”
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  acadian

  Hey,

  *** w72 4/1 p. 197 ‘They Shall Know that a Prophet Was Among Them’ ***
  
  Sub heading: IDENTIFYING THE "PROPHET" However, Jehovah did not let the people of Christendom, as led by the clergy, go without being warned that the League was a counterfeit substitute for the real kingdom of God. He had a "prophet" to warn them. This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. They are still proclaiming a warning, and have been joined and assisted in their commissioned work by hundreds of thousands of persons who have listened to their message with belief. Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a "prophet" of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. What does it show?

  There's more, this is from the 2004 cd

  Acadian
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  Elsewhere

  http://www.davidgladden.com/jw/quotes/channel.htm

  *** Watchtower 1981 December 1 p.27 The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter ***

  Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his "faithful and discreet slave," made up of spirit-anointed ones ... Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do.

  *** Watchtower 1919 April 1 p.6414 ***

  …Is not the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society the one and only channel which the Lord has used in dispensing his truth continually since the beginning of the harvest period?

  *** Our Kingdom Ministry September 2002 (For Britain) p. 8 ***

  5 God's Appointed Channel: Bear in mind that our heavenly Father has an appointed channel of communication, "the faithful and discreet slave." That "slave" has the responsibility to determine what information is made available to the household of faith, as well as "the proper time" for it to be dispensed. This spiritual food is available only through the theocratic organization. We should always look to God's appointed channel for reliable information, not to a network of Internet users. — Matt.24:45.

  *** Revelation -- It's Grand Climax At Hand (book) 1988 pp.54 chap.10 Abhorring the "Deep Things of Satan" ***

  22 Finally, Jesus declares: "Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations." (Revelation 2:29) For the fourth time, Jesus here repeats this rousing refrain, and it will conclude all three messages yet to come. Do you have that responsive ear? Then keep listening intently as God, by his spirit, continues to provide counsel through his channel.

  *** Watchtower 1983 February 15 p.12 You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth-But How? ***

  A third requirement is that we be associated with God's channel, his organization. … Jehovah is using only one organization today to accomplish his will. To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it.

  *** United in Worship of the Only True God (book, 1983) chap.15 p.118-124 How Does Jehovah Direct His Organization?***

  THEOCRATIC IN STRUCTURE

  4 The Scriptural expression "congregation of the living God" makes evident who direct it. The organization is theocratic, or God-ruled. Jehovah provides direction for his people through the one that He appointed to be the invisible head of the congregation, the Lord Jesus Christ, and by means of His own inspired Word, the Bible.

  [...]

  7 [...] To please Jehovah, we need to accept the instruction he provides through this channel and act in full harmony with it.

  [...]

  13 We do well to ask ourselve: "Do we truly appreciate how Jehovah is directing his visible organization? Do our attitudes, speech and actions reflect that?" [...]

  14 It is by means of his visible organization under Christ as appointed head that Jehovah is dealing with us today. So our attitude toward this organization demonstrates in a practical way the stand that we are taking on the issue of sovereignty. [...] By cultivating wholesome respect for Jehovah's organization and wholeheartedly doing the work that he directs, we give evidence that Jehovah truly is our God and that we are united in his worship.--1 Cor. 15:58.
• 

  gumby

  This spiritual food is available only through the theocratic organization. We should always look to God's appointed channel for reliable information, not to a network of Internet users . — Matt.24:45.

  Which is baloney!

  I guess the Writing Dept. at headquarters NEVER uses the "network of the internet" to do their re-search eh? Yeah right

  These arrogant bastards think they are the only ones with brains who can look up information "the world" has already published, then re-write it, and take credit for Jehovah "guiding them".

  Gumby
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  coffee_black

  During a 3 hour meeting, during which I got to confront them about some of the things I had discovered about the organization, I asked the elders if they could please explain the difference between being inspired and spirit directed. I got the deer in the headlights look...and then one said he would like to know what I thought the difference was. I said "I don't know...that is why I'm asking you." No answer...tried to change the subject, but I wouldn't let them. They hemmed and hawed...and finally they said that I needed to have a Bible study with a mature member of the congregation, because "it was obvious that I had missed something in my years as a jw" Yep...he was right....during all the years as a dub, I missed the fact that it was a fraud.

  Coffee
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  greendawn

  On this issue they are playing their usual silly mind games trying to twist the basic meaning of words, split hair and deny the obvious. They say that they are divinely inspired then they deny it claiming to be divinely directed instead. What's the difference between the two anyway? And how do they receive knowledge from God as they claim?